Raydiance Inc., a developer of ultrafast laser technology, is teaming up with Rofin, a manufacturer of laser sources and laser-based solutions for industrial materials processing, to introduce femtosecond laser technology to industrial production.
via OptoIQ.
Nathan Myhrvold and team’s latest inventions — as brilliant as they are bold — remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new, mosquito-zapping gizmo you have to see to believe.
The Laser Institute of America LIA will present its first Lifetime Achievement Award to laser pioneer Dr. Charles Townes at the 29th International Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics ICALEO to be held September 26-30, 2010 in Anaheim, CA.Townes, 94, won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1964 “for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle,” according to the Nobel committee. The then-provost and professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT www.mit.edu shared the award with Nicolay Basov and Aleksandr Prokhorov of the USSR. Their work was among the critical early steps in the development of the laser, which is 50 years old this year.
via Charles Townes to be honored with the first LIA Lifetime Achievement Award – OptoIQ.
UK scientists claim to have developed laser technology able to sense hidden explosives.The technology could help to detect landmines and roadside bombs and to improve airport security.The team from St Andrew’s University produced a laser by “pumping” a type of plastic called polyfluorene with photons from another light source.They found the laser reacted with vapours from explosives such as TNT.The work was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
via BBC News
Mitsubishi started to ship 75-Inch LaserVue
Osram Opto-Semiconductors of Regensburg, Germany has reported ‘true green’ (520–570nm) laser diodes (LDs) on traditional c-plane free-standing gallium nitride (GaN) substrates [Adrian Avramescu et al, Appl. Phys. Express, vol3, p061003, 2010]. The researchers achieved continuous-wave (cw) 524nm laser emissions with output power of 50mW and wall-plug efficiencies as high as 2.3%. Pulsed-mode operation allowed even longer wavelengths of 531.7nm to be produced.
via Semiconductor Today.
It looks like a creature from science fiction, but Lunokhod 1 is real. Photo Credit: Lavochkin Association.
The Soviet robot lost on the dusty plains of the Moon for the past 40 years has been found again, and it is returning surprisingly strong laser pulses to Earth.
read more at Old Moon Rover Beams Surprising Laser Flashes to Earth.
For years, NASA has used satellites, lasers and other gizmos to monitor Earth’s atmosphere.
But as the nation’s worst ever oil spill continues to foul the Gulf of Mexico, the agency known for space travel has turned its eyes to the sea.
NASA scientists, including a team from Langley Research Center in Hampton, have been monitoring the spill for weeks. They provide updated images of the spill's reach and are pioneering ways to measure the amount of oil beneath the water's surface.
Read more at Daily Press.
The Army’s Green Light Escalation of Force, or GLEF system, is being tested in Afghanistan to assist Soldiers by giving them an interim step before escalating force.
read more at Army testing green laser kits in Afghanistan.
Laser technology developer Applied Energetics Inc. said Wednesday it received an additional $1.8 million in funding for a contract with the U.S. Army to develop laser guided energy technology.
The award has a ceiling value of $13.4 million over a period of three years. The additional funding brings the total contract value to $4.9 million, the company said.
Applied Energetics said it expects to receive funding for the project incrementally.
The company developed the laser guided energy technology in 2002. It involves using a laser to guide a high-voltage electric charge against a target.
The project was commissioned by the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command.
Read more at Canadian Business Online.
